Law Firm Expands to 19K Square Feet at 11 Times Square

Immigration law firm Berry Appleman & Leiden (BAL)is expanding its New York City offices at 11 Times Square after inking a lease for 19,000 square feet at the Midtown building, Commercial Observer has learned.

BAL signed a seven-year direct deal to expand on the 11th floor of the 40-story, 1.1-million-square-foot office tower at 640 Eighth Avenue between West 41st and West 42nd Streets, according to sources with knowledge of the transaction.

The San Francisco-based law firm, which only established its New York City office earlier this year, is expanding from 10,000 square feet that it was previously subleasing on the 11th floor of the building after recognizing the need for additional space. The deal sees BAL terminate that sublease and sign a direct lease with landlord SJP Properties, keeping its existing footprint on the floor while growing by an additional 9,000 square feet, sources said.

Asking rent in the deal was in the high $60s per square foot, per sources. An Avison Young team of Eddie Tillman, Brooks Hauf, Peter Johnson, Robert Nero and Cole Chartash represented the tenant in the transaction, while JLL’s Paul Glickman, Mitch Konsker, Ben Bass, Daniel Turkewitz, Diana Biasotti and Kristen Morgan represented the landlord alongside SJP’s Jeff Schotz.

In a statement, Tillman noted that Avison Young was “able to find space for immediate occupancy following [BAL’s] required business timeline” and said the new space “will allow for growth, as the law firm is growing rapidly across the country,” while BAL Managing Partner Jeremy Fudge described 11 Times Square as “an optimal location for us.”

Representatives for JLL and SJP could not immediately be reached for comment.

SJP completed construction on 11 Times Square in 2010 and opened the building in early 2011. Other tenants at the property include law firm Proskauer, tech giant Microsoft and quantitative hedge fund Kepos Capital, which inked a 20,000-square-foot lease at the office tower earlier this year, as CO first reported.